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Field Day Programme

Tuesday 22nd March 2016 10:30am Welcome, Introductions and

Health & Safety

Charlie and Jody McCaig, Regional Leader; Taranaki

10.35am Dairy Trainee of the Year – Sam Hughson

Lauren McEldowney – North Taranaki Consulting Officer; DairyNZ

10.45am Dairy Manager of the Year – Sam Howard

Shirley Kissick – Central Taranaki Consulting Officer; DairyNZ

11.15am Share Farmers of the Year – Ben and Belinda Price

Katina Knowles – Regional Leader; DairyNZ, Taranaki

12:55pm Past Winner’s Reflection – Murray Brown

1.05pm BBQ lunch kindly sponsored by ANZCO

New Zealand Dairy Industry

Awards 2019

Southland / Otago

Wednesday 17th of April – 11:00 am

407 Bull Creek Rd, Outram

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Field Day Program

17th of April 2019

11:00am

Welcome, Introductions and H&S Facilitators of today’s Field Day are

• Lucy Hall: DairyNZ Consulting Officer South and West Otago

• Leo Pekar: DairyNZ Consulting Officer Western Southland

11:10am Dairy Trainee of the Year – Caycee Cormack -Facilitated by Lucy Hall

11:25am Dairy Manager of the Year – James Matheson -Facilitated by Lucy Hall

11:50am Share Farmers of the Year – Cameron & Nicola Van Dorsten -Facilitated by Leo Pekar

1:20pm Past Winners Reflection – Steve and Tracey Henderson

1:30pm BBQ lunch kindly sponsored by Farmsource

Health and Safety notices:

• All children must be supervised by an adult at all times

• Visitors must remain with the group and follow signs and directions

• The farm has a non-smoking policy

• This is an agricultural workplace please take care

• Please see one of the DairyNZ team is you require any assistance

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Share Farmer of the Year

Winners Cameron & Nicola Van Dorsten

Runner Up Miguel & Macarena Ortiz

Third Paddy Bentham

Share Farmer of the Year:

Merit Awards

DairyNZ Human Resources Award Cameron & Nicola Van Dorsten

Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award Regan Crawford

Federated Farmers Leadership Award Paddy Bentham

Honda Farm Safety and Health Award Miguel & Macarena Ortiz

LIC Recording and Productivity Award Cameron & Nicola Van Dorsten

Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award Cameron & Nicola Van Dorsten

Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award Miguel & Macarena Ortiz

Westpac Business Performance Award Cameron & Nicola Van Dorsten

2019 Results

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Dairy Manager of the Year

Winner James Matheson

Runner Up Bridget Bell

Third Michael Jess Pelesco

Dairy Manager of the Year:

Merit Awards

Dairy Holdings Ltd. Most Promising Entrant Award Elyse Fletcher

Southland/Otago DIA Encouragement Award Michael Jess Pelesco

AWS Legal Employee Engagement Award Bridget Bell

Shand Thomson Leadership Award Bridget Bell

McIntyre Dick & Partners Feed Management Award James Matheson

DeLaval Livestock Management Award Elyse Fletcher

Fonterra Dairy Management Award Bridget Bell

PrimaryITO Power Play Award James Matheson

Westpac Financial Management & Planning Award Michael Jess Pelesco

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Dairy Trainee of the Year

Winner Caycee Cormack

Runner Up Eilish Duthie

Third Hayden Smith

Dairy Trainee of the Year

Merit Awards

Hydroflow Most Promising Entrant Award Jakeb Lawson

FarmRight Farming Knowledge Award Meliame Mackenzie

Landpro Community & Industry Involvement Award Eilish Duthie

FMG Communication & Engagement Award Eilish Duthie

DairyNZ Practical Skills Award Eilish Duthie

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Dairy Trainee of the Year - Caycee Cormack

Background

• Born in Winton, but raised in West Otago.

• Lived on and surrounded by farms but parents weren’t farming and had little exposure to dairy farming until finishing university.

• Went to Blue Mountain College in Tapanui and then onto Otago University, completing the first two years of a physical education degree.

• At one point Caycee was the youngest black belt in karate in New Zealand at just aged 12. Sports have always been a passion.

• Being unsure what to specialise in after two years at University, Caycee took a gap year to gather her thoughts, which turned into the beginning of her dairy career, as a neighbour asked her to give milking a go.

Farming Career

• The neighbour in Heriot, John Mark Lietze, persuaded Caycee to give milking a go, which then turned into 2.5 years on farm.

• Progressing from milk harvester, to farm assistant and then shed manager.

• Currently Caycee is finishing up her time with the Roulston’s as the 2IC under the farm owner. Here her responsibilities ranged from staff management, up to 4 overseas staff members, grass management, animal health, milking and other day to day jobs. The farm is high input with a wintering barn, milking 600 cows over 220ha in Heriot.

• John Mark has proven a great mentor with all things dairy, as well as family friends Simon and Hillary Vallely who have helped with advice in her career and the competition.

• Caycee enjoys dairy farming as she is achieving before many of the general population are out of bed, along with the variety of day to day jobs.

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Training

• Just completing Level 4 Primary ITO

• Enjoys the DairyNZ Bizstart progression group in Balclutha with like minded people and guest speakers.

Goals

• Caycee entered the Dairy Trainee last year, and came third. She wanted to improve on her performance from the previous year, from the judges comments and become more comfortable presenting as she knew what to expect.

• Next year Caycee is securing a managers position with Southland/South Otago, which she intends to keep for at least 2-3 seasons.

• From there she would like to progress to contract milking and the share milking. Land ownership is the end goal.

• Caycee is increasing her equity by looking into buying heifer calves next season.

• She is also looking into management courses to enable her to make a smooth transition to the next step, and improving her weakness in machinery.

Community Involvement

• Caycee is a very active member of her community in West Otago.

• Currently she organises a touch rugby tournament in Heriot every year to help locals and new people to the community socialise and be active.

• She teaches swimming in Tapanui every Monday evening to local children.

• Coaches the Blue Mountains college first 15 girls’ rugby team.

• Is a member of the fundraising team for the refurbishment of the last cottage at Ribbonwood rest home.

• Currently training to become a volunteer for St. John’s ambulance service.

• Enjoys playing country music on her guitar in her free time.

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Dairy Manager of the Year – James Matheson

Merit Awards – Judges Citations

McIntyre Dick & Partners Feed Management Award

James demonstrated a clear understanding of all aspects of feed and crop management. James is not afraid

of trying something different but is also willing to admit when he gets it wrong. James is confident enough to

use the technology, coupled with his own hands on experience and learnings he is able to achieve good

outcomes.

DMOTY Primary ITO Power Play Award

James chose team management as his power play topic. James has previously viewed this topic as a

weakness in his own self and in recent years he has strived to improve this. The judges firmly believe that

this is now one of James's many strengths. This was a fitting topic choice as James displayed an enthusiastic

approach and is now empowering his own team with his learnings.

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Background

• Born and brought up in Clinton, South Otago and attended Gore High School.

• Worked at the freezing works in Mataura for 3 months before deciding this wasn’t the job for him.

• Knew the farm owner, Chris Lawlor, through the rugby club who offered James a job on the dairy farm.

• James has now been at Tarrington Ltd for 8 seasons, moving from trainee to herd manager and then up to manager.

• This is James’ second time entering the NZDIA awards, after coming 3rd last year. He wanted to take the chance to review his system from the previous season and become more comfortable with the presenting.

• A keen rugby player, James is currently playing for the “Baa Baas.”

Farm Overview

Milking Platform

• Stocking Rate: o On Pasture: 2.94 cows/Ha o On Pasture and AgriTonic Plaintain/Red Clover: 2.56 cows/Ha

• MS Budget 2018/19: o 350,000 kg MS o 1129 kg MS/Ha o 500 kg MS/cow

• Staff: o Manager, 2IC, 2x trainee, plus a fulltime milker (4days a week), and tractor driver.

• Effluent System: o low application rate pods over 80 ha.

Run Off

• Stocked with: 197 R1 Heifers, 207 R2 Heifers, 80 Beef R1s, 80 R2 Bulls

• Fully self-contained system

Milking Plant

• 54 bail rotary with cup removers, Afi Milk electronics, cup removers and in shed feeding system.

Herd

• 750 cows wintered, for 700 cows to milk and 20 to provide calf milk (then culled)

• LIC Friesian genetics, no bulls at mating and no bobby calves.

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1 James (centre) and his on-farm team

Responsibilities

• Chris Lawlor, the farm owner, currently resides in Australia so the day to day management of both the runoff and the dairy platform is done by James and his team.

• Other responsibilities outside of day to day management include: o Strategic planning with the farm owners o Contributing and adhering to the financial plan o Recruiting, hiring, training and managing on-farm staff o Putting together feed budgets

Strengths

• James’ passion is people management. After not realising the potential for a great career in dairy, he intends to make that better known to young people in the region.

• Staff on farm are encouraged to put over time pay into stock, which will then be raised with the other youngstock and milked into the herd, to increase their equity. This is a similar pathway James has used for his own equity growth which allowed him to purchase 35ha last season, which has been incorporated into the platform.

• He aims to provide an environment at work that encourages people to come back, 2 days off a week for younger staff members, team building with a social cricket team, and time for fun as well as family.

Training and Development

• Primary ITO Levels 3 and 4.

• 3rd – PITO trainee of the year 2013

• No8 HR – 8 step management programme

• 2014 – runner up Maori Young Farmer of the Year

• DairyNZ People lift programme for two seasons.

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Share Farmers of the Year – Cameron and Nicola

Van Dorsten

Merit Awards – Judges Citations

Dairy NZ Human Resources Award

Cameron & Nicola demonstrated strong communication lines and a

high degree of trust with all stakeholders. They have effective

systems in place to grow capability within the farming team.

Cameron & Nicola complement each other’s skills very well and have

high recognition of each other’s strengths. A very clear passion for

investing in yourselves and your staff.

LIC Recording & Productivity Award

Cameron & Nicola have excellent record keeping and use of

technology to provide access to information. Clear explanation and

justification of their breeding policy and herd selection criteria.

Nicola's strong background in this area was evident with a clear

passion for stock which was evident in the quality of their herd.

Excellent overall herd husbandry and sound bio-security and animal welfare practices.

Meridian Farm Environment Award

Cameron & Nicola have sound nutrient management practices and a good understanding of their farm

environment management plan. They have a sound understanding of the soil types and their limitations and

have mitigation practices in place to minimise damage. A good awareness was shown of farming in a

sensitive area and under scrutiny of the public eye.

Westpac Business Performance Award

Cameron & Nicola demonstrated a clear business strategy and understanding of their financial position and

cash flow. They capitalise on the use of bench marking an have sounds KPI's to monitor and drive business

performance. They make good use of mentors and advisors to support their decision-making processes

which will see them achieve their career goals.

Personal Background

• Nicola & Cameron both grew up in the Waikato on dairy farms.

• Nicola finished school and studied a Bachelor’s in Applied Hospitality and Tourism Management. She

went on to work at Novotel Queenstown and organised events at the Invercargill Civic Theatre. She

then moved to LIC following a passion for BW and breeding that runs in her family.

• Cameron left school and went dairying 16 years ago.

• Together they moved to Southland in 2008.

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Family:

-Lachlan (5),

-Edward (4)

-Jonty (1)

Growth Pathway

2008 Equity Manager

Moved to Southland Converted a farm with 3 equity partners at Gummies Bush

2009 Global Financial Crisis, farm sold Lost all equity Started again from scratch

Learned the importance of sustainability and the key role governance plays in the business.

2009 Manager

Continued on the same farm managing for the new farm owner. Built up equity with a $1/KgMS bonus on top of target production.

2010 LOSM

23% LOSM at Isla Bank - Staff, machinery, electricity included in the contract. This provided opportunities to save money.

Mark and Measure makes an impression on the business, identifying initial Vision Statement and bringing values to the forefront. Also outlines a timeline for Equity Growth.

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2013 Leasees

Purchased first herd of 320 Cows to lease a farm for three seasons in Isla Bank.

Cements the importance of working for the right people.

2016 50/50

50/50 Sharemilking – 3 year contract at Outram for Ray Parker and Sharon Corcoran.

“People over profit” was the reason for taking this job over other opportunities.

2016 Farming to Freedom course ran by Dylan and Sheree Ditchfield up skills them on: Providing lightbulb moments around people management and leadership, looking outside the square.

“We aim to be in top 10% for Operating Profit”

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Our Vision:

“Live life to inspire sustainability and progression”

Our Purpose:

“To create a sound financial platform through operational excellence to

maximize growth and development within our core business for our

employees, partners and ourselves to fulfil potential”

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Farm Info

Physical KPIs and Benchmarking for 50/50 Sharemilkers; System 3

KPI’s (50-50 Sharemilkers) Six17 Ltd Otago/Southland

benchmark

National system 3

Benchmark

Pasture & crop eaten 14.5 11.6 12.4

Imported supplements 1.1 1.9 2.0

Milksolids/ha 1,290 1,240 1,139

Days in milk 274 256 256

MS as % of liveweight 95% 90% 82%

Imported Supplements/cow 385 650

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Financial KPIs and Benchmarking

KPI’s

(50-50 Sharemilkers)

Six17 Ltd Otago/Southland

Benchmark

System 3

Benchmark

Top 20%

Benchmark

Operating profit/ha $1,120 $1,044 $740 $1,498

Operating profit margin 21.0% 22.5% 17.2% 28.9%

Farm working

expenses/kgMS

$2.61 $2.40 $2.48 $2.29

Operating RO Assets 14.9% - 11.0% -

Main reason for the high FWE compared to average is the share of the grazing cost impact

Young stock grazing Cost Six17 = $0.77 Benchmark = $0.40

“We have mayor role on assisting our employers reach their goals”

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The FWE in this graph includes:

• *Labour adjustment of $0,42/kgMS ($105,000)

• Depreciation $0.23/kgMS

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“By reinvesting 15% (ROA) in the business we will double out Equity every 5 years

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Heifer grazing grazing cost share matrix

Moving forward the contract

has been extended for 2 more

seasons excluding the matrix.

The Farm Owners will be paying

50% of the R2 grazing.

Dairy Sales and Cattle trading

The Van Dorsten’s offset this increase in heifer grazing cost by

increasing the stock income through trading cattle

Dairy Sales: Six17 Ltd $1.38 Benchmark $0.30

Due to the nature of the contract they decided that needed to trade in stock to make up for

the extra grazing costs; Purchasing in in-calf Carryover cows (2016/17 = 150 Cows),

(2017/18 = 113 Cows) and selling a split out of the herd the following year.

Stock Trading Pros vs Cons of Carryovers

Pro’s Con’s

1. Fills the contract shortfalls of Youngstock matrix. For all three seasons here we have paid 100% for all youngstock grazing.

1. Risk of infecting the herd and farm with M-Bovis or introducing viruses to the herd. The herd contracted IBR in the 2016/2017 season.

2. Assists with cashflow and positive equity gain on a good year.

2. Mastitis – we aren’t in control of the drycow process and have found that they don’t normally have teatseal.

3. Increase in 6week in-calf rate (ICR) as all carryovers are mated for 6weeks from end of October; which in-turn increases days in milk.

3. Feet problems – The carryovers we have purchased have been grazing on drystock farms that don’t have minerals running through the water.

4. Production upside of a Carryover vs Heifers/Cows. 4. Metabolic problems – more likely to go down due to having a higher BCS.

5. Higher BW stock, increase herd BW & PW figures. 5. Shed – Udders, temperament and cow flow.

6. Increase in income from 4 day old calves due to all carryovers being in-calf to Herefords.

6. Genemark cost to profile them and to A2A2 test them.

7. Able to trade undesirable cows or late calvers out. 7. Extra cost of tagging the herd.

8. Higher Empty rate on Carry-over line.

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Equity Growth

DairyNZ

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Equity Growth 20659 -3509 -1E+0 2E+053E+054E+056E+055E+057E+058E+059E+051E+061E+061E+061E+061E+06

Equity % 22% -32% -17% 23% 37% 32% 47% 50% 53% 60% 51% 57% 64% 70% 76% 82%

22%

-32%-17%

23%

37%32%

47%50% 53%

60%

51%57%

64%70%

76%82%

-40%

-20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

-200000

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

Equ

ity

%

Equ

ity

($)

Year

Equity Growth vs Equity %

Equity Growth Equity %

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Breeding

INDEX HERD AFTER FEB NZAEL INDEX HERD

BW 104/44 TOP 10%

89/44 TOP 25%

LIVEWEIGHT

(KG) 461 (based on kill sheets)

PW 144/61 TOP 5%

140/61 TOP 25%

KGMS/COW 460

ANCESTRY 99%

99%

KGMS/WEIGHT 99%

BREED HF x J HF X J

TARGET BREED

F8-F12

HERD

PROFITABILITY VS

NZ AVG.

27BW higher than avg. producing $15,795 profit per annum.

13BW higher than avg. producing

$7,475 profit per annum.

HERD

PROFITABILITY

VS NZ TOP

10%

-$585 per annum prior to NZAEL run. -$8,625 less profitable per annum.

SUMMARY OF MATING Target Actual

YEARLINGS (7WEEKS MATING)

# of Yearlings 95 Body Codition Score (BCS) 5

# Yearlings with no AI 5 Target Conception to AI (7day observation, followed by a PG)

65% 66%

# Recorded Jersey Bulls 6 Target Empty Rate 4% 8%

COWS (9WEEKS MATING)

# of Cows 570 Body Codition Score (BCS) 4.5

# Cows to Hereford 120 Target 6week ICR 78% 68-69%

# Hereford Bulls 11 Target Empty Rate 11% 19%

“We believe in the efficiency of high BW animals”

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AVERAGE SCC PER SEASON SINCE WE HAVE BEEN DOING THE ABOVE POLICY.

Season 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

SCC 102,120 83,054 83,000 126,000 119,000 Current Avg.

105,000

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Farm Physical Benchmarking

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Pasture Management

Van Dorsten’s Principles:

1. Fully feed cows with quality pasture first. 2. Top up deficit with PKE and feed grown on farm so effectively shifting feed from spring to summer/autumn. 3. Ensure quality buy topping farm 2x per year this also allows us to push cow intakes, pre-mow spring pasture for intake and post top summer pasture so cows get the pick of quality feed so not making them eat reproducing pasture. 4. Target rotation 22-25 at balance date. Usually 1st October 5. 1500-1600kg/dm/ha target residual all year round.

6. Step over any covers over 3100kg/dm/ha through spring cut within 1 week of shutting up and before it gets to 3500kg/dm/ha.

7. Monitor growth using C-Dax tow behind fortnightly through spring to balance date and weekly from balance date to summer then back to fortnightly once growth slows.

Reducing milk slump

June JulyAugus

tSeptember

October

November

December

January

February

March April May

Beet 1 1

Grass Silage 2 2 2

PKE 3 2 2 1 1 2 2 1

Pasture Offered 11.62 16 19 19 17.69 17 13.5 14 14 13

Production 17/18 10961 28878 35644 33747 29393 26576 23708 24728 21800 17000

Production 18/19 12199 33366 38422 33933 31229 29813 25900

Target Production 25809 26142 22315 16552

02500500075001000012500150001750020000225002500027500300003250035000375004000042500

0

2.5

5

7.5

10

12.5

15

17.5

20

22.5

Milk

So

lids

(Kg/

MS)

DM

I (K

g/D

M/d

ay)

Month

2018/2019 Dry Matter Intake (DMI) vs Monthly Milk Solids Production

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8. Do annual feed plan and spring rotation planner at start of season to identify were we need to budget supplement contract PKE to fill major deficits when price is right.

9. Dry off with 1900-2000kg/dm/ha cover.

10. Start last rotation on the 20th April.

11. Dry off date 25th-31st May

12. Follow cows with urea 25-35units using 150-180units per annum. No urea spread in May

Supplement feeding The use of supplements and its efficiency being converted into milk is heavy reliant on pasture residuals, in order to minimise substitution of grass. Nicola and Cameron acknowledge that the following table is simplified and takes no consideration to extra R&M, depreciation and utilization of supplements.

RETURN ON PKE

12 KG/PKE/WET = 1KGMS INCOME FROM PKE BREAK-EVEN PAYOUT

KG/WET PKE 12 12

TOTAL KG/PKE 260,000 260,000

KG/MS PKE MADE 21,666 21,666

June July AugustSeptember

October

November

December

January

February

March April May

Beet 1

Grass Silage 2 0.9

PKE 2 6 1.4 1.5 3

Pasutre Offered 12.4 13.5 17.2 20.1 17.6 16 15 17.9 14 13

Production 17/18 10961 28878 35644 33747 29393 26576 23708 24728 21800 17000

0250050007500100001250015000175002000022500250002750030000325003500037500

0

2.5

5

7.5

10

12.5

15

17.5

20

22.5

Milk

So

lids

(Kg/

MS)

DM

I (D

MI)

(K

g/D

M/d

ay)

Month

2017/2018 Dry Matter Intake (DMI) vs Monthly Milk Solids Production

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PAYOUT $6.20 $3.29

INCOME PKE $134,333.33 $71,283.33

COST OF PKE COST OF PKE

TOTAL T/PKE 260 260

LANDED PKE $274.00 $274.00

TOTAL COST PKE/T $71,240.00 $71,240.00

PROFIT VS COST PKE PROFIT VS COST PKE

INCOME PKE $134,333.33 $71,283.33

COST PKE $71,240.00 $71,240.00

PROFIT PKE $63,093.33 $43.33

RETURN ON PKE 46.97% 0.06%

Farm Environment

Being in a flood plain, sediment and

nutrient loses are at the forefront of

their Enviro plan.

Highlights:

→ Riparian planting

→ Strip tillage Fodder Beet

→ Oats Catch Crop

→ Chicory crops

→ Fencing off Wetlands

→ Plantain in pasture mix

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N Leaching to Water

“Good Management Practices (GMP) have made a 35% reduction in N lost to water in three

years!”

Soil and Fert

27• 2016-17

• 27 kgN/ha lost to Water

22• 2017-18

• 22 kgN/ha lost to Water

20• 2018-19

• 20 kgN/ha lost to Water

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People on Farm:

Staff is a vital tool for businesses like Six17 Ltd, in their way to achieve sustainable growth.

Businesses need to cover the following people needs to succeed:

Capability Autonomy Community

✓ Capability:

o On/Off farm training

o Performance reviews

o Skills learning plan

o Values

o Personality profiling

✓ Autonomy

o Responsible delegation: tasks are delegated on capable people

o Trust on people’s skillset

o Clarity:

▪ Of roles and responsibilities: thru customised thorough and evolving

Job Description

▪ Jobs to come: as in the Yearly Planner

▪ Of tasks: jobs are clearly described in Farm Booklet

▪ Current affairs: Fortnightly Meetings provide knowledge of on farm

situation, feed position, jobs to do, things to be aware of

▪ Communication: use of Dr.Paddi Lund’s rules of engagement

✓ Community:

o Flexible and appropriate time off

o Support for sports, religion or community involvement

o Fun at the workplace

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`Team Values:

Accountability Trust Communication

Respect Initiative Integrity

Sample of responsibilities chart from Farm Booklet

“Rosters and Job Descriptions are live tools rather than documents”

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“Clarity is Power”

Sample from Farm Booklet

“Expectation of standards are very clear”

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Summary:

We live in thriving sector full of challenges and opportunities, the people showcased today

are reflection of the good things to come.

In order to evolve and stay competitive we have to grow the people around us & treat the

environmental resources in a sustainable manner

Thanks to those involved who made this day possible

To the participants for challenging themselves to open their businesses in order to find

opportunities

To the sponsors who so enthusiastically make these awards possible

And the farmers that are in the thick of it making real change

This handout was proudly put together by Lucy Hall & Leo Pekar

DairyNZ Consulting Officers

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